painting, american

Presents the stories and facts behind many of the world's greatest paintings from early cave drawings to the present day.

Sister Wendy Beckett has transformed public appreciation of art through her astonishing knowledge, insight and passion for painting and painters. Trace the development of 20th century art and its legacy to the future in this concluding segment of Sister Wendy's epic story. Modern art in the work of Cezanne, then to Paris to witness its fiery birth, as Picasso introduces cubism and Matisse and Kandinsky redefine artistic vision. Observe the bold lines of Mondrian and meet Dali and the artistic acrobats who twist time and reality, the surrealists. Attend the birth of the New York School as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning create Abstract Expressionism. Finally, view Rothko's monochromatic visions, the pop art of Andy Warhol, the minimalism of the 1960's, and their impact on art today.

Analyzes several of the seventy known "Peaceable Kingdoms", particularly the 1824 one, painted by the nineteenth-century Quaker minister, Edward Hicks.

Discusses some of the best and most significant work of different groups, schools, and periods of American Realism, ranging from before the Revolutionary War and continuing through the Postmodern era, and includes 250 black-and-white and color reproductions.

Attempts to record in artistic fashion the major topics and concerns of the American artist, including a variety of schools of art.